


Forever's End

by bottomboybye



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Darkside AU, Gabriel is a vampire, Hurt/Comfort, I promise, Jesse McCree is also a vampire, M/M, Omnic Crisis referenced a decent amount, Overwatch helps with human/supernatural relations, Please Don't Hate Me, There is murder in this please caution, There is sex in this ok, This will get darker, Vampire AU, a little (lot) aggression at some points, honestly there's a stupid reference to captain america in this and if you get it kudos to youj, there is no talon in this au bc it's young bbies not late bbies, there is unwilling blood taking from someone, there's a lot in here to unpack just settle in for the ride, this is dark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-05
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2021-02-19 00:10:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22568800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bottomboybye/pseuds/bottomboybye
Summary: The one time Gabriel lets his guard down, everything goes wrong.
Relationships: Background Jesse McCree/Genji Shimada, Reaper | Gabriel Reyes/Soldier: 76 | Jack Morrison
Comments: 12
Kudos: 128





	1. All's Well That Ends Well

**Author's Note:**

> Howdy, thanks for looking at my fic! This will involve a serial killer, forced situations (NOT RAPE), and an overwhelming sense of "Oh God, what the fuck" as my control group stated. Please keep in mind the tags and strap in because we're all going somewhere today.

Gabriel watches. 

Gabriel has always thought of himself as a protector. In his years upon the Earth, he has always made sure the needs of others came before himself— at least when it came to those he cared about. Being a vampire could make one selfish when the hunger burned in his throat but he never took without asking and that was something he lived by. 

Jack is no exception to this rule. 

Jack sleeps on his stomach, his head turned away from him. The man has always slept nude, always complaining about how hot he is until Gabe siphons his warmth with his cool body. While not a problem, it is distracting when Gabe works in bed. A perk to being an old vampire is sleep isn’t necessary, neither is breathing but it’s a habit that’s hard to break. He does indulge when work isn’t piling up or after sex when Jack reaches for him as his heart settles. Gabriel could be quite easily convinced to fall into bad habits if Jack smiled at him.

Gabriel does so much for Jack, would be willing to let himself be killed to protect his human.

A surge of need swells in his chest to touch Jack’s skin, to make sure he’s alive even though his enhanced hearing can hear the sound of his heartbeat. Gabe touches Jack’s back regardless, fingertips sliding over the swell of muscles where his arms tucked under the pillow flex his shoulder blades. His back is a work of art, marble molded to become a man like Adonis. No, better than Adonis.

It would be so easy to lean down and sink his teeth into his shoulder and let blood fill his mouth but he restrains himself. Jack likes to be awake when his hunger flares. He likes the way Gabe’s venom relaxes him a bit too much, akin to an aphrodisiac. A lesser vampire would call him a blood bunny but he’s only ever had eyes for Gabe and Gabe is keen to keep it that way. He’s never felt a need quite so deep and visceral as this need to have Jack so wholly and selfishly. 

It  **scares** him. 

It  _ thrills  _ him. 

His fingers make patterns on his back, mindlessly. He doesn’t realize Jack is shifting until the pressure against his fingers grows nearly moving his hand from its relaxed position. Jack is stretching, most likely awake now that Gabriel has touched him. Gabe needs to remember how light a sleeper his man is but cares little when Jack turns his head to him with a sleepy expression. 

If Gabe’s heart worked, his pulse would flutter. 

“Mmm, what time is it?” Jack asks as his face sinks into the pillow willing on his internal clock to give him the answer before Gabriel does. 

“Around five in the morning. Little before, maybe? You don’t need to be awake right now if you’re tired.” Gabe reaches to let the mess of hair upon Jack’s head. The blond spikes in every direction except where his head relaxed on his pillow. The chaos is adorable in a way that makes Gabe feel like he’s found a home for the first time in 300 years. 

“Gonna sleep more if you keep doing that.” 

“Maybe that’s what I want. You don’t sleep enough for a human. Don’t think I didn’t see the bank statements from those makeup shops or the fact you hide your concealer in the cabinet under the face towels.” Gabriel’s fingers do not stop their petting. He loves to watch Jack’s face drop from defiance to guilty relief. 

“Okay. Love you.” Jack mumbles, turning over already half asleep. Gabe muses he’s akin to a toddler that needs to be told they can sleep before giving in. With permission granted, Jack’s breathing evens out. The rise and fall of the back of his chest is hypnotic in a way he can’t quite place beyond longing jealousy. He wishes he could sleep so freely without fear and paranoia clawing up his throat to awaken him again.

“I love you, as well.” He says in the safety of Jack’s sleep-state. He can give up a little of his defense when Jack is unable to see his weakness.

Does he know Gabriel would slaughter entire cities for him? Does he know Gabriel would gladly die if Jack was in danger and it was between the both of them? Does he know just how far Gabriel is willing to go for him? He doesn’t think so and that is more than enough for Gabriel to feel as if he needs to shroud his emotions in the darkness where no one can hear them. 

Time passes as it tends to. Slipping through Gabriel’s fingers like grains of sand. 

He misses when time meant something. He hasn’t kept track of his age in two centuries. He has long forgotten his date of birth. Jokingly made it Halloween at some point and it took, it felt right. 

Time, however, likes to snap back against his skin. The sting of it all pulls his vision to the monitors as he rewinds the tape again. 

Play. 

Rewind. 

Play. 

Rewind. 

“Is it part of Glasgow’s clan?” A vampire named after the city in which she was turned, not the city in and of itself. Her reach extended further than Gabriel would like but she did stay predominantly in Western Europe. 

“Not sure, boss,” McCree drawls. 

There’s a lit cigar in his mouth that Gabe reaches out to take. He sucks in a breath, lets the coolness of smoke fill his lungs before releasing the burnt vanilla scent into the air. 

Old habits die hard for some vampires. 

McCree especially. Still stuck in 1890, the poor kid. He’s lucky vampires still grew hair or he would look like a perpetual babyface. 

“I don’t keep your ass out of jail to hear that,” Gabe growls as he replays the video again. The victim on the screen is blond, fair skin, and built. It’s all too easy to replace the man in the video with his own who is safely tucked away in the Gibraltar bass. 

“Could be her but she’s queer, don’t get why she’d want to. That wife of hers tempered her temper a long time ago but I ain’t sure. She’s done some wild shit but I ain’t seen her murder humans for no reason. Seems to…”

“Seems like practice, doesn't it?” Gabriel grits his teeth. His fingers bend into the console below him before he has enough mind to snap the computer in half. They don’t have the budget to replace it. They already get hand-me-downs from Overwatch, he can’t request Jack to give him more than he has. 

“You might be projecting a little too much.” McCree shoots him a look before glancing up at the footage, “I asked a contact to keep his ear out but I don’t think this is Glasgow at all. It looks too unfinished. Too imprecise. She’s too neat. These guys don’t got a single thing in common beyond being pretty.” McCree takes his cigar back, finishing it off with one final puff. He tosses it in the trash, never taking his eyes off the latest victim. 

“Feral? No, too clean. Well, for a baby vampire. I wonder if we have a new player on the field,” Gabe pauses on the moment the victim’s throat is ripped out, agony distorts his features. It’s so easy to see Jack there and it makes him angrier beyond anything he’s ever felt, “I’ll ask Ana if she can make Jack some protective charm to ward off any unwelcome guests in the meantime.” 

“You know he ain’t gonna take it. You know he’s still a little wigged out by our ragtag band of supernatural misfits. Won’t even look at me half the time, think he’s upset I got turned so young. Ain’t like I give a damn.” Jesse pushes away from the monitor to do something else that isn’t being reminded of white hair and red eyes, talons on the edge of long fingers. 

Jesse has a point. An infuriating point but a valid one nevertheless. 

In a perfect world, Jack would accept his offer for eternal life and a spot next to him for the rest of the time. But his partner turns him down every time. Gabriel doesn’t see the appeal in being so easily broken down by time, so squishy to be easily killed in an accident by some random event. Gabriel has survived illnesses, slaughter, and war. Why won’t Jack take what he offers? 

Gabe slams his hand on the keyboard. 

Jack doesn’t see what Gabriel sees anymore. He hasn’t let Jack know about the victim type but he lets him know about the serial killings. His partner is concerned but not enough to take more protection than he needs. 

Gabriel knows it’s to happen, that he’ll watch Jack die before he’ll ever get to turn him. 

The excuse is always the same. 

_ I’m not ready _ . 

Gabriel wonders if he’ll ever be. 

Jack calls him, Gabriel answers on the first ring per the usual. 

“Wasn’t expecting you to call for another three hours.” Gabriel types, cameras flicker in and out of the area. He’s got to hand it to the kid they just brought on to hack into the city’s crime cameras, this shit was convenient. 

“Block of Glendale and Roseworth.” 

The call ends. Gabriel doesn’t know the voice that spoke. It wasn’t Jack. 

He switches to the corner given. 

_ There’s nothing there _ . 

A movement jostles him awake. He sits straight up, sweating in a way he wasn’t sure he still could. Gabriel looks around, wildly, looking for something to ground him. 

“Gabe? Gabe. Breathe. I’m right here. I’m right here I promise.” Hands smooth against his shoulders and Gabriel sags into the warmth next to him. 

Jack is here. Jack is safe. 

Jack holds him as he swallows down trying to rid himself of the panic flowing through his veins. 

“Nightmare.” Gabriel moans out, burying himself in Jack. He needs to feel his heartbeat, needs to know he’s alive and well. The dream was so vivid, one could almost consider it a premonition but Gabriel has never had that skill. Others may but him? Never. 

“More like terror. You kept asking for me. I’m here, I promise I’m here and I’m not going anywhere.” Jack lifts Gabriel’s head up. Blood red eyes meet cornflower blue. 

All is right in the world for a split second. 

Gabriel pulls Jack on top of him to let the weight of his body sink into him. He needs to feel secure in the knowledge that Jack is here and this isn’t a dream. Words are pretty but he needs physical reassurance. 

Lips meet in a frenzy, open mouth and filthy. Teeth dig into one another’s lips, pulling the other closer and in. There is something frantic in the way Jack meets every offer of touch Gabe gives him. Maybe Jack is just as worked up as he is. 

Their touch escalates to full-blown sex at some point, Gabriel can’t pinpoint when. 

Jack rubs his hands everywhere, makes sure every inch of skin can feel him and his warmth. Gabriel feels torn apart, slowly being pieced together by every little brush of skin Jack offers. It’s so easy to fall into this, to feel secure within the embrace of Jack. 

He doesn’t remember getting fingered but he feels the initial push of Jack in and the rocking that lit and cooled a fire within him. It doesn’t hurt, Jack never makes him hurt. 

Jack makes  _ love _ to him. Slow, sweet, unlike their frenzied kissing. He feels grounded in the push and pull of Jack within him and the mouth that swallows every sound that threatens to break free. He wants this. He wants this forever. 

“Please,” Gabriel asks, reaching up to pull Jack down close enough that he could scrape teeth against his neck. Jack tilts his head, exposes more skin as he slows the rolling of his hips. 

“Yeah,” Jack sounds beautiful when he’s out of breath, “Take whatever you need from me.” 

Gabriel does, teeth sink in and life flows into his mouth. 

Jack never lasts long after a bite, the orgasm tears through him and he can feel every spurt of cum in him. Gabriel feels no need for release, helping Jack onto his side so he can finish feeding. He feels too raw to want to lose control and he is satisfied with giving Jack every piece of him that he can. 

Jack reaches out, grasping for a hand to hold. His eyelids flutter, sleep getting the best of his merely mortal man. Gabe smiles, pulling Jack closer to revel in the radiating warmth Jack creates. 

“Feel better?” Jack asks and Gabriel nods in response. The look of relief on Jack’s face makes him feel both guilty and good all at once. Guilty that Jack was upset but good that he felt the need to be there for him. 

When was the last time anyone was there for him before that? He can’t remember. Jack has done more for him than anyone else in existence. He can’t fathom why. 

“Thought I lost you,” Gabe admits after a while, “The string of murders, the pattern, it’s all getting to me. Maybe I need a vacation.” He heats but Jack runs with it. 

“You? A vacation? Did hell freeze over?”

“Hey, you’re a workaholic too.”

“I know. We could both run away to England for a week, there’s a hole in the wall pub I’d love to show you.” 

“Sure. I don’t have anything pressing to work through beyond a serial killer, Jack.” 

“A working vacation. You’re not going to make headway this far into your own head. Will you think about it?”

“Yeah.”

Within a week their bags are packed and Gabriel takes his work with him. The files are kept away from Jack and on the plane there, Gabriel secludes himself time pour over the notes collected by every scene. 

Maybe Jack is right, maybe he does need to get out of Switzerland for a bit to readjust his angle on who is murdering these men at midnight. Never the same place, never the same way. It’s clean but not too clean. The men never suffer, Gabriel wonders if that is purposeful or accidental. 

Gabriel does, in fact, make headway on the case. Jack was right about getting out of his office and working in another facility. The lighting is brighter here than at Blackwatch HQ. Too many on the BW staff need dim lights and, even as a vampire as old as he is, he needs more light and brighter scenery to feel comfortable. He was born in an era in which the sun was safe, sometimes he still instinctively seeks it out. 

Jack really did change him, didn’t he?

They go to dinner at the pub Jack couldn’t (wouldn’t) stop talking about. It takes Gabriel a hot minute to realize who the staff was waiting on them. It was a family they rescued during the early stages of the crisis. The little girl had grown up, her brother grown like a weed at 6’3” blond and blue eyes and both worked the bar as their parents worked the kitchen. The walls of the pub are covered in war memorabilia. He sees several pieces of newspaper framed on the wall. Several photos of the strike team and far too many of Jack to make him feel at ease. 

But overall, it’s a family establishment. It’s cozy, clean, and relaxing to be surrounded by so much hope. He learns the brother wants to be a nurse, the daughter wants to join Overwatch to protect people when she’s of age. Their parents support their goals wholeheartedly. 

He wants that one day, he realizes as he looks across the table to see Jack chatting with another patron. He wants to have children with this man who makes him feel like he’s better than who he truly is, a man that loves him more than life itself. It’s startling to want to  _ marry  _ anyone when he’s an immortal being but he does. He can’t sure children with Jack but it’s still a want that nestles in his brain and settles. 

It scares him but when Jack looks at him and smiles that fear bleeds away to contentedness. They could have that, one day. A few fledglings of their own. Maybe even a coven? 

“Do I have something on my face?” Jack asks moving a hand to touch his mouth where a smear of mustard was, in fact, on his face. 

“Kinda. But it’s nothing. Promise.” Gabriel can’t stop the way his lips pull and cheeks ache. 

God, he’s hopeless. 

“Hey, Jack, can I get a hand?” The eldest boy of the family comes around. Jack and him could be brothers in another life. It’s eerie how much they look alike, “There’s some sort of animal stuck in the crates and I can’t seem to get to it. I’d hate for it to get crushed.” He’s 19 at most, Gabriel guesses, probably still scarred from crisis and wants his idol to help him. It’s nothing to be afraid of but Gabe can understand a human’s fear of darkness. 

“Of course. Was it a chittering sound or a screechy sound? Don’t know much about the wildlife here but I swear if it’s a rat, that’s on you, Bart.” Jack wipes his face and stands up to help without a second guess. It’s no surprise why Jack is so well-loved in all circles. Charismatic, sincere, all over Boy Scout with the badges to match. 

Gabriel wishes he didn’t have to share but then the world would miss out on someone that could make a cynical vampire believe in hope. Hope was something the world needed right now as they rebuilt and healed crisis wounds. 

Gabriel looks at his glass of synthetic blood. It smells wrong and tastes weird but it’s better than sitting here and pretending to be human. It’s not like it isn’t well known that supernatural creatures work with Overwatch. The only human on the strike team was Jack and, well, Ana if you didn’t count the fact she was an alchemist. 

Time passes slower than Gabe wants. God, were they fighting a mutant rat? They were taking forever and Gabe’s glass was empty. Gabriel’s enhanced hearing can hear the sound of a struggle and crash. One hell of a rat, clearly. He knew Jack didn’t like them but— there was a pained scream cut short. Gabriel is up and out before his brain can catch up to what his body does. 

The alley is dark but he has night vision. The crates are scattered and Gabriel smells  _ blood  _ in the air. His weapon is in his holster, ready to be brought out but there’s a body on the ground. He can hear panting and sounds of pain. 

“I don’t want to die.” He hears and knows that voice. 

Gabriel jumps over the broken crates and further into the alley near the dumpster. The reeks of the sweet tang of blood. Gabriel’s fangs slip into his gums before he has time to react. 

There’s a lot of blood. Gabriel’s body sings for the scent of a meal after shitty synthetic blood. 

“Gabriel?” Jack asks and Gabe looks at him. There’s blood around his throat, a tear he can see that looks at though it’s mending in front of him but the real worry is Bart. Jack’s hand is applying pressure but they both know he won’t survive unless Gabriel intervenes. 

“I don’t. Want to die. Please. I don’t.” Bart is choking on his own blood. His throat looks nearly torn out. Gabe is impressed he hasn’t bled out yet. 

“Gabe— can you do something?” Jack sounds distraught. He has every right to be as Gabe kneels down next to him and looks at the teenager in front of him. He looks so young, will he hate him for this? Does he even want it? 

“There’s nothing we can do.” Gabriel knows it’s too late. Bart’s eyes don’t meet his and the bleeding slows. Jack shakes where he holds Bart’s body. He’s covered in blood and tissue, Gabriel isn’t sure where Bart’s blood stops and Jack’s starts. 

It’s a scene he calls in. Overwatch and Blackwatch personnel located in London meet them at the pub. Discrete as they can be while Gabriel talks to the parents. The body of the monster that took their boy away was still where Jack left it after dispatching of him. Silver knife Jack kept on his person was shoved into his sternum. His death was quicker than Bart’s. 

He wants to raise the dead to kill him all over again. He feels like he failed in stepping in to save Bart. If he had been there faster, maybe the family would still have their son. Different, changed, but still their son at the end of the day. 

He can’t think like that right now. He has more important things to focus on. 

Gabriel stands in the mouth of the alley. He looks at all the points of entry and exit. He looks at the pattern of the blood spatter that would be Bart’s last living moments. He removes himself emotionally as possible from what has happened for both his and Jack’s sake. 

Gabriel retrieves his phone, thumb swiping on a contact. Stupid picture of McCree makes a dumb face. What a loveable idiot. It makes his chest feel a little less tight. 

“McCree? Got the bastard. Lone wolf, just shy of full-blown degradation. Pulling up his record showed he murdered the man who changed him. And yeah, he was Scandinavian. Blond, blue eyes, and tall as shit.”

“Think he hyper-focused as he went crazy?”

“Didn’t go crazy, McCree. Feral. He lost his humanity or gave it up. I don’t know but Jack killed him. There was… one casualty. Jack was injured but he killed the fucker. A little too mercifully for my tastes but a clean kill. I’d be prouder if he didn’t…” Gabriel has to take a second to breathe through the emotions that swell in his chest. 

The line picks up McCree moving. Gabriel knows he’s looking to get on the next plane out here. It won’t be fast enough. The scene will be picked apart and logged in the system. 

“Boss? Go check him out. Jack. We ain’t crazy about each other but you know he’ll be beating himself up. Both of y’all and your damn martyr complexes I swear. I’ve got the information feed online and if anything new comes up, I’ll let you know.”

McCree hangs up on him and Gabriel stands there, looking out into the darkness. Numbers mark the scuffle, the fight, the bloodshed. When he turns, he can see Jack covered in a shock blanket and having his face and neck being looked over. 

The medics do what they can but he knows the wound to be sealed before they can do much. Jack’s system always healed faster than it ever had any right to after SEP. 

In public, they shouldn’t flash what they have but something doesn’t sit right with him. He needs to talk to Jack, knows he’s okay. There are too many things unsaid and too big of a void between them. 

Jack comes closer to his sight and Gabe realizes he’s having an out of body experience. He talks to Jack but he doesn’t feel like he’s really talking to Jack. Everything feels like it’s too much and not enough. He feels claustrophobic in his own skin. He snaps to reality the moment he has a hand on Jack. 

Jack opens the shock blanket and Gabriel pulls him further into the ambulance and shuts the door behind them for some privacy. They’re both at their breaking point, most likely way beyond it if Gabe is being honest.

Jack clutches him and cries, Thick sobs and full-body trembling that leave him feeling unbalanced. Gabriel lets him grieve into his chest, pushes his head against him as he lets go of every emotional block he put up to save face in front of Bart’s family and the people that worked beneath him. All Gabriel can do is watch him suffer and that destroys Gabe internally. He would give anything to be able to tell Jack the right words to make him feel better. 

But he can’t. 

Jack exhausts himself against Gabe’s chest. All he can do is pet the red-tinted hair where Bart bled against him. They need a shower. They need to go home and feel secure again. Gabriel could surely get them a private transport home but that requires time and putting a stranger behind the wheel that Gabe can’t trust. 

Gabe does what he does best and finds a way out that won’t leave Jack to break down in the public eye. 

Their hotel is easy to spot, easy to enter, and no one asks questions. They take a private elevator to their suite, too large and lavish when the staff realizes who would be staying. A good perk and now an even better one as the bathroom is big enough for Gabe to help strip Jack down and put him in the shower. 

They’re both worse for wear but Jack takes these things closer to the chest than Gabe does. Any mortal would tremble in the face of death, let alone one so violently. Gabriel would care more if he had a vested emotional attachment to the kid but, honestly, he can’t give a shit knowing how easily that could have been Jack. By the wound on Jack’s neck, it nearly was. 

Gabriel climbs in joining Jack in the shower. He washes his partner down and lets him curl into his chest to feel the embrace of a body. Gabriel purposefully makes the water hotter to feign a hotter body temperature for Jack’s need. 

At some point, the shower is too much ambient noise. Gabriel turns it off, keen to settle Jack into nice sheets and pillows. He wants him to feel safe and warm, he doesn’t want Jack to feel like he needs to stand up and be a pillar of the community anymore. He’s only a man, after. 

There isn’t a need to fuck once they settle until other times of near-death experiences, Gabriel isn’t sure Jack could even get it up if he wanted to. The intimacy they share is through holding, Jack drags his fingers through the hair on Gabe’s body. The texture will help ground Jack, Gabriel knows this. But sometimes the pinpricks of Jack accidentally pulling hair out isn’t fun either. 

“Jackie, talk to me,” Gabe whispers as a hand moves down to brush his hair. It’ll stand up wildly when it dries after he’s messed it up some more, “It wasn’t your fault.”

“I know it wasn’t,” Jack says something for the first time in what feels like hours but truly was only half one, “He took me by surprise. Teeth. It hurt. You never hurt. Why…” Jack swallows as he turns closer into Gabe, fingertips digging into his flesh, “He got Bart. He. He was just a kid. And now he’s…” 

“I know. He was gone before I got there. I can’t turn someone without permission. They have to want it.” Not necessarily true but Gabriel has a code of ethics after what happened to McCree. He refuses to let someone suffer as he did. 

“Did you want it?” Jack asks, turning the tide. His partner has never asked him if he chose this path or was he thrust into it by a violent murder. 

Come to think about it, did Jack ever ask?

“I was born into it. It’s… a long story but when you’re not emotionally drained I’ll explain everything. I can’t tell you much, only what the coven allows of outsiders,” Gabriel breathes out. It feels like a cop-out like he’s lying when he knows there is so much history Jack couldn’t comprehend when it came to vampire politics. 

“I know it’s not ideal, I know you don’t want it. I was… terrified this was it. The one I couldn’t stop.” But Jack did survive and Jack stopped it. Gabe doesn’t underestimate his partner’s abilities but he does question the constant strain of his mortality. It only takes one thing to happen for the glasshouse to crumble. 

“Would that happen to me if I were...? I don’t want that. I never. I don’t. I couldn’t.” Jack’s breaths come fast, too fast. Gabriel covers his eyes, pulls that blankets over them and presses his entire body against Jack’s. It’s the easiest way to desensitize and bring Jack back from the edge of panic. 

“Jack Morrison, you would never be like that. Never in a million years would you be anywhere near bloodthirsty enough to slaughter someone like that. I promise. As for added security, I’m here. I know what to do to keep you from that.” Gabriel smooths his hand down Jack’s hair, nails scraping his scalp in a way Gabe knows Jack likes, “But don’t think about that, okay? I want you to sleep and rest. Do I need to give you a compulsion? I can force the nightmares away tonight.” 

Jack nods, looking up at Gabriel. He notices the desperation in his eyes and wishes for a split second he could rid Jack of his trauma for the rest of his life. Sadly, he can only offer the night. 

The compulsion is easy when it’s something Jack wants. It’s nice to feel Jack relax, to ease into the sleep without much fighting from insomnia or overactive thoughts. 

But now that leaves Gabriel to his own thoughts. He dissects what happened and how to fix it to make sure next time never happens.

Instead, he wakes up to Jack. Still asleep, he’ll stay asleep until Gabe wakes him up. 

Jack looks pale. His neck looks red and irritated. Gabe moves his face to see the extent of the damage. The pinprick holes where the vampire bit him are still there. It sets him on edge, anger burns through him before it dissipates. The other vampire is dead, it does no good to get angry over things he can’t fix. 

A nick to his wrist and Gabe bleeds on Jack’s neck to help seal him up. Saliva could work too but he doesn’t want another vampire’s venom potentially in contact with his own. It’s disgusting and tastes like antibacterial gel if he’s honest. 

Gabriel moves to sit up and look at the clock. 12 hours passed. Wow, he was drained more than he originally thought. He reaches over to check his phone, scrolls through the notifications. Nothing new. Nothing pressing. No more deaths. Jack ended the killing spree. 

Gabe wishes he could be happy about that. He can’t help but notice the way the pinpricks don’t heal the way they should. Gabriel bled on them, they should seal. 

Panic grips him for a moment. The beast couldn’t have, could it? Anger burns fiercely through his veins as he nudged Jack, speaking to release the glamor. 

Jack doesn’t awake. He sweats, eyes darting everywhere under closed lids. Gabe sucks in a breath before diving into his neck, he needs to stop this. He needs to give Jack the option to decide if this is what he wants. 

Gabe sucks at the hole, gnaws it open to suck as much of the venom as he can but Gabe can taste it on his blood. The blood has turned from wine to vile. Gabriel panics and pushes as much of his venom into the wound as he can. He tries to overtake the parasitic components of the beast to force his own. He wants Jack to be tied to him, not to anyone else. 

Gabriel thinks he might be successful but he can’t be sure. He pulls back, mouth bloody as Jack’s neck starts to mend beyond the pinprick of Gabe’s own making. He can relax, but only barely. 

He has three days to work out the plan. There was a contingency plan in place in case this happened or when Jack chose for it to happen. 

Gabe fumbles for his phone pulls it off the nightstand and calls McCree and Shimada. Three-way call, the sound of them grumbling about how early it is isn’t lost on him. 

“Operation: Rebirth is go.” Gabriel growls out, hands smoothing hair from Jack’s sweating hairline. There are parts of it turning silver before his eyes. He’s afraid to know what he’ll look like after. He’ll still be Jack but… not. It doesn’t matter. Jack will live and that’s all that matters. 

“What?” Jesse sounds surprised and he hears bedding shuffle on both ends of their lines. Ah, he knew they were sleeping together a long time ago but to have it confirmed at the worst moment leaves a bitter taste in Gabe’s mouth, “Fuck, okay, I’ll get it set up. Fuck, what the fuck.” McCree mutters and the line goes dead. 

This will be a long three days. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Project: Rebirth is go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for:  
> Unwilling feeding upon a person  
> Isolation
> 
> I'll add more if people find things but! Hope you enjoy :)

Jack dreams. 

There is something ethereal about what he sees. 

His bedroom is exactly as he left it this morning. Well, not exactly, his bed is covered in soft pillows and blankets. Gabriel lounges across a few of them, blanket half across his lap. It’s a sight, a well-deserved one after… after what? He can’t seem to grasp why he hurts. His body burns but he’s freezing. Everything looks like it has a halo effect. Does he have a concussion?

“Jackie? Everything is going to be okay. Rest.” 

Jack hears Gabriel speak but the man in front of him does nothing more than a blink. Something feels off. Something is very much wrong with the situation but he relaxes into the bed without much contemplation, he truly doesn’t have the energy to think much of the situation. 

“How are you feeling?” Gabe asks as his arms open to put Jack into his embrace. It’s nice to be held by someone he loves even if the man is room temperature. It doesn’t seem to matter when his own body can’t seem to decide if he’s hot or cold. 

“Groggy? Foggy? Hurts. I’m hurting but…” Jack’s joints ache. If he didn’t know any better he might have thought he was coming down with the flu. Maybe he was. He feels almost feverish, achy, and sweating up a storm. 

It’s gross when Gabriel wipes the sweat from his brow and flicks it away. He is sweating, why is he sweating?

“You’re going to be fine, it’ll be okay. I promise.” Gabriel mumbles against his head. Fingers pressed against his skin leaving lines of irritated redness. He always marked for a split second before his body returned to his unblemished state, SEP was both a blessing and a curse. 

“I’m not dying, am I?” Jack tries to joke but Gabriel doesn’t respond. The man looks sad. Why is he sad? They’re here, together, for the first time in a long time.

That wasn’t right. 

Didn’t they see each other yesterday? Yes, they went someplace. Where were they? They weren’t home. Did they go home? Jack can’t remember anything more than dark blurs, pain, and then… this. 

Jack tries to push away from Gabriel, panic bubbling beneath the surface of his skin. Gabe doesn’t let go. He holds Jack in an ironclad grip that Jack’s weakened state can’t break free from. 

“I’m sorry, I can’t let you go.” Gabriel sounds sincerely upset. 

Jack jolts up, unsure of what just happened was a figment of his imagination. 

His body aches as if he’s just gone nine rounds with every one of the SEP soldiers in existence. His jaw hurts and his teeth ache in a strange way. He’s never had a cavity, maybe he needs to make a dentist appointment? No, this is different. His whole jaw radiates pain akin to the day after his braces were tightened. It was strange. TMJ? His doctors warned him about his teeth grinding with elevated stress levels. 

Eyes open to meet the world. It’s bright enough in the room where Jack has to squint before his eyes adjust. It looks like his bedroom but not. Little things are moved around and the bedroom door is… gone? No, replaced with something far more heavy duty than his standard wooden one.

Jack throws the covers away from his body, legs swinging over the edge of the bed. His entire body feels like a fresh bruise but he has to know what’s going on. Something isn’t right. Some things are missing that shouldn’t be. Every mirror in the room is gone, the door is gone, and there doesn’t seem to be a single one of their self-defense weapons in sight. Not even the knife he has taped under the nightstand that he’s not sure Gabe knew about.

Jack drags fingers across the top of the dresser and pulls away dust. Their housekeeper would never let this thick layer of dust on any piece of furniture in the house let alone the bedroom. Jack can hear her berating him for not calling her sooner. 

“Where am I?” Jack asks no one in particular. There’s something wrong with his throat. He’s thirsty and ravenous in a way he hasn’t felt since his initial metabolism boost after the injections. It also feels sore like he needs honey tea to soothe it. He hasn’t had a sore throat in ages that wasn’t caused by a little too much enthusiasm in the bedroom. 

This is weird. 

Everything is too much. Every footstep echoed in his ears, every texture feels amplified, and not to mention how bright it was in the room. How did they ever sleep with these bright lights? He wants to hide away back into the mess of pillows and blankets but he needs to know what’s going on. 

Either this was a dream or he was having a hallucination while also having a migraine. Those were the only two logical things he could think of. It would explain the feeling of unease and the pain that shoots through his body with every step. 

Jack looks at the bed, longingly. Would it hurt to sleep more? He clearly needs it if he can’t see the door without wanting to die from how bright it was. He can barely focus on anything. His thoughts jumble and slip through his fingers like grains of sand. 

The bed invites him back into its embrace. Gabriel’s side smells so strongly of his lover that he feels a sense of loss. He misses Gabe, wonders when he’ll come home again. He should call him after he wakes up. Gabriel always did like when Jack sent him a text or call out of the blue. 

When Jack wakes again, Gabriel is sharing the bed with him. This time he knows it’s the real one. The dream one didn’t have a roughness to his fingers that this one had from years of hard labor prior to his revitalization. He also knows the right spot to put pressure that makes him moan with relief. 

“Ah, you’re awake. I need you to sit up and let’s get some fluids in you, okay?” Gabriel’s voice sounds like he’s trying to soothe a startled horse. The tone doesn’t sit right with him but by the way he feels, something must have happened that he can’t remember. 

Why can’t he remember anything?

“Sure.” Jack’s voice cracks painfully. He tries to clear his throat but the only thing it does is make the feeling of swallowing glass worse. 

He feels like shit. 

“Straw in mouth, suck.” The box appears from nowhere to Gabe’s hands. He most likely grabbed it with a tendril and brought it back to him. Those things were cool, it was a huge selling point on the ‘I want to be a vampire’ list. 

Jack sucks as commanded. The flavor explodes on his tongue, sweet like a cherry wine with just the right amount of sugar to appease Jack’s taste. He takes it all before the sputtering sounds of an empty box make him moan out a complaint. 

“Don’t worry, Jackie, there’s more. You’re dehydrated and I need to get some fluids in you.” The hand kneads the base of his head, fingers deftly working out a knot Jack can feel back there. 

This is all so good. What did he do to deserve this?

Another straw meets his lips, his eyes had shut at some point but he feels no need to look at the all too bright room. He should tell Gabe he feels like garbage but the man seems to know. He always knew when Jack wasn’t at his best. Weird vampire superpower and all that jazz. Gabriel would probably berate him if he knew his thoughts. 

The box is empty and Jack makes another disappointed sound. He’s so hungry that he growls when Gabe tries to take the box away. Jack startles himself with that knowledge, shame bubbling up in his chest and cheeks. He pulls back from the box sheepishly when Gabriel chuckles. 

“It’s okay, baby, you’re just a little food aggressive.”

“Defensive.” Jack breathes out and notices his throat feels infinitely better. He no longer feels as if he’s swallowing glass. 

“Yeah. I’d kick your father’s ass but knowing he’s burnt and spread in some shithole cornfield is enough for me.” Gabe’s fingers never stop petting and Jack finds himself all too relaxed where he rests. 

“I’m hungry,” Jack states, steering the conversation away from a home life he doesn’t need to remember. 

“I know. Fluids only right now. I’ll explain once you’re feeling better but it’s,” Gabe pauses like he’s trying to find the right excuse, “Doctor’s orders straight from Angela.” 

Jack is more than a little confused but he’s feeling better. Much better, actually. He hasn’t felt this good in so long. He’s been pulling too many all-nighters and spreading himself thin that maybe whatever knocked him down a peg was a godsend. Now he can go back to work without feeling tired. 

“Whatever that juice box is, I need a case of it. I haven’t felt this good in…” Jack doesn’t miss the way Gabe looks at him with grief, the way his red eyes look towards his neck and then away to grab the next box for him. He doesn’t recognize the pattern on the box, almost like it was torn off, maybe even drawn over.

Why would they tear off the label of the drink? Especially if it was this good? Maybe it was something R&D was working on? He isn’t sure but whoever made it deserves every accolade available. 

“I’ll be sure to tell them that. I know you’re saying you feel good but you need to rest. Your body has been through a lot the past few days. Don’t worry, we’re still on vacation time so all your work is being handled. Promise me you’ll catch some sleep? I’m going to take a shower and get you more juice boxes.” 

It all sounds good to Jack who settles back down to rest. The lights are bright but there’s an eye mask on the end table he spots and takes without asking many questions. It helps but sounds are still too much. 

He hears the door shut. Something falls against it and the sound of a strangled sob that echoes in his ears. He must be hearing things, maybe the shower’s pressure didn’t start right away? It wasn’t uncommon in some of their base rooms. Jack pushes up the mask a bit to take a good look at his surroundings.

This looks like their room but not all at the same time. Minor things look out of place and the walls were the wrong color, the wrong shade of cream. These walls were too yellow as opposed to the cool tones of their bedroom. 

Maybe Gabriel had his bedding shipped to them when he wasn’t really feeling great? But that doesn’t explain the room set up being nearly identical sans the wall color. There wasn’t a door before and now it’s in the wrong place than the one he’s used to. 

His head hurts, his body aches. It’s easy to trust Gabe. Gabe, who could do no wrong to him. If this wasn’t a safe place, Gabe wouldn’t leave him here. He pulls the mask over his eyes and settles down to sleep. 

He’ll ask Gabriel when he comes back. 

Jack wakes up to the smell of a juice box under his nose. Instinctively his lips create a seal around the straw to down as much of it as he can. He can’t get over how good it is, how greedily he finishes it. Jack grips Gabe’s arm, nails digging into the skin where a similar smell hits his nose. 

Jack doesn’t realize he’s latched onto Gabe’s arm until Gabe tries to gently pry him off. Jack lets go, face pale as he tries to apologize and doesn’t know how to say anything but sorry. He doesn’t know why he did that. 

Why did he do that? 

The ache in his jaw feels unbearable. He feels ashamed of himself. Gabe calms him as though he understands but the need that festers in the pit of his stomach begs him to bite his partner once more. 

Gabriel’s face says it all. He’s not mad, he’s sad. Why is he sad?

“Jackie… baby, we need to talk. About a couple of nights ago.” Gabe licks his thumb and brushes against the open wounds on his forearms. Watching them heal is mesmerizing but it doesn’t take away from the sheer weight of Gabriel’s words and the fact Jack ripped open his skin like paper. 

“What about it?” Jack’s eyes have gotten used to the brightness of the room but it still feels too bright. Would it be trashy to turn them off and talk in the dark? “First can you just shut off the lights. They’re so bright I can’t see shit.” 

Gabe’s face falters. 

“Jack, they are off.” 

Silence. 

Jack looks, really looks at the ceiling to realize that yes, there were no lights on but then how could he see? SEP never gave him that ability an ability to see at night, that came from the visors he was given to keep up with the rest of them. This was far more vivid than the green tones of night vision goggles. 

“I don’t understand.”

“You died,” Gabriel says, blunt and distressed. Jack’s blood runs cold, unsure about how to process the information. There was an unspoken rule between them that if Jack were to die before he had a chance to be turned, he should go through with it. 

Jack never realized the plan would ever be enacted. He figured he would have time to make a whole night out of it. Favorite foods one last time, wine, good sex, and then he’d be turned.

Project: Rebirth had been a joke between them. Jack made an offhand comment that pulled the code name from Captain America’s test. Gabe had laughed and tucked against Jack’s frame as his fingers trailed against his skin. Gabriel had agreed to call it that but didn’t talk much more about it. 

“I don’t understand.” Jack sounds lost. Gabe reaches out for his hands. He figures Gabe needs it more to steady himself than him though Jack does clutch his hand like a lifeline. He barely notices how his hands shake while Gabe tries to soothe him with brushing a thumb across Jack’s knuckles. 

“We went to that one place you really like, uh. The name escapes me but the family we saved during Crisis runs it. The oldest went outside with you and you two were… attacked. Bart didn’t survive and you got a neck full of venom that I tried my best to remove but it was too late.” Gabe tries to meet Jack’s eyes but he can’t. 

Jack’s blood runs cold. Shock settles so nicely in his chest he can barely figure out why it’s so easy to breathe when panic should have punched the air out of his lungs. 

“I’m not a vampire,” Jack states, flatly. He breathes, he swears he can hear his heartbeat, and he doesn’t crave blood like Gabriel had described the need as. He doesn’t feel like devouring a whole city. He’s hungry but not starving. He hasn’t had solid food in days beyond the juice boxes. It’s hard not to be ravenous when all you’ve had is sweet juice. 

“Baby, you are,” Gabe stresses in a way Jack isn’t quite ready to handle, emotionally. 

“I’m not. I would know it.” Jack says defiantly. He wants to stand up and away from Gabe but he finds himself frozen in place. It’s strange to have so much of Gabe’s attention but Jack shivers at the intensity of his gaze. 

“Those juice boxes are AB negative. It’s why they’re really good, it’s a rare blood type. Ethically sourced, of course.” Gabe’s thumb rubs against the bumps of his knuckles and Jack still doesn’t believe him even though Gabriel has no reason to lie to him. 

It would make so much sense. Why everything is so wrong, they would have made a room for Jack to turn in without risking the safety of any of their human or humanoid friends. The night vision, the way everything feels so sharp like he can’t concentrate. 

“No.” Jack’s voice cracks. He tries to take his hands away but Gabe has them in a grip to keep him from escaping. 

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” Gabe’s voice wavers but he never does. He is a pillar and always has been during emotional and physical turmoil. Jack has never and will never need another man to be his rock. Even when tensions were high, Gabe didn’t back down. 

Jack is upset. Distraught, even. There are no words yet to describe the intensity of his emotions. He wants to run, he wants to hide. He wants Gabe to leave him alone because he’s fine. He wants Gabe to stay because he’s not fine. He has body temperature, Gabe doesn’t feel warm to him but he also doesn’t feel cold to him either. 

Does he want human food? He thinks he does.

“I need to be alone.” Jack finally manages. Gabe sucks in a breath but lets go of Jack’s hands without much fanfare. It’s not the best time to be alone, festering in his own hand but he needs to really think about this. It’s not like there’s a mirror to look at to see if he’s got fangs or red eyes or whatever other things make a vampire. He knows Gabe is a special case and not everyone gets the cool powers he does. McCree is a good example of standard-issue even if there was nothing standard-issue about him.

“I’ll be right outside the door, okay? There are cameras in the four corners. Jesse is also here as back up if for some reason I can’t get to you when you need me. Okay?” Gabe withdraws himself from the bed. Jack can tell he doesn’t want to leave. He feels bad for sending him away but Jack needs space. 

“Bring food later,” Jack asks and Gabe gives him a broken look. 

“Okay.” Gabe agrees before walking out the door. There’s a hesitation in his steps that makes Jack ache. 

Jack is alone. 

His thoughts spiral inside his skull. What happened? He doesn’t remember anything even remotely violent happening to warrant his death but it’s also not April fool’s day. Gabe wouldn’t lie to him about this but it doesn’t make sense. He still feels like himself, nothing has changed. 

Jack looks up to see the cameras he somehow missed before. The blinking red dot is a giveaway that makes Jack’s skin prickle. 

How dare they keep him under lock and key like some animal. 

Jack leaves the bed to attempt to leave the room but there’s no handle. He growls before throwing his entire weight against the door hoping to bust it down. The door doesn’t move, it doesn’t even dent. 

The spiral happens so fast, Jack is merely along for the blurred ride. He knows he absolutely obliterates this room from furniture to bed trying to get out of the room but nothing works. All he knows is that the red light blinking taunts him. He’s not an animal. He’s a human being that doesn’t deserve to be held prisoner because Gabe is wrong. He has to be. He’s still human, he doesn’t crave blood— he just wants to be out of this little room where the walls feel like they’re caving in around him. 

It takes little under five minutes but Jack throws himself against the wall, sliding down it while clutching his hair. He wants to scream. He wants to tell. He wants to leave but they won’t let him. He knows they can see him. What sort of shit are they pulling? This is torture. 

Jack jerks awake, not realizing he’d even fallen asleep against a wall. The room is still in disarray, Jack feels mildly guilty about trashing it but there’s food on a surface that didn’t get destroyed. Jack’s stomach lurches, pulling him to his feet so he can finally eat something solid. 

Clearly Gabe was wrong. Vampires can’t eat solid foods. A simple bowl of mad and cheese greets him and the smell makes him gag. 

Huh?

Jack sniffs the bowl. His stomach turns in response. Maybe he’s so hungry he’s nauseous? That’s happened multiple times before. He forces himself to take bites of food but it tastes terrible. He spits it out and looks for the box Gabe had brought earlier. 

White styrofoam greets him and Jack tears it open. There’s a couple of juice boxes for him to enjoy and those smell infinitely more appealing than the food on the table. 

He sucks all of the boxes dry before he ends up splitting them open to lick the inside. The taste is orgasmic. He moans as he licks his fingers clean. 

He’s out. He’s upset about being out of the only food he seems to be able to stomach. Jack tries not to snarl but he looks up at the camera and shakes the box full of his dismantled food source. 

He never explicitly asks but he knows his point will get across. It’s too difficult to ask for what it really is.

Thankfully, he doesn’t have to wait long. The door opens and Jesse McCree stands there, of all people. He looks a little disgruntled but, like Gabe, gives him a pitied look. 

“Boss has to go for a few to pick up more food but I got what’s left in the fridge for you.” 

Jack never realized how annoying Jesse’s voice was. He looks at McCree and feels the need to rip his throat out. 

The thought startles him. Why would he think that? He’s never had a problem before. In fact, Jesse was a decent kid. Sure, his outfit selection was abysmal but it was quirky.

But Jesse keeps talking and Jack isn’t listening. He isn’t giving Jack what he needs fast enough. 

It takes Jack all of a single second to have Jesse pushed up against the wall and teeth sinking into his neck. He can feel hands moving to push him off but Jack growls and lets blood ooze across his tongue. 

It doesn’t taste as good as the boxes but it’s good enough. 

Jack can’t help the noises that fall from his mouth as he messily eats. Jesse is easy to subdue and even easier to take what he wants. He can feel a struggle under him but he overpowers with an ease that came from enhances doubled with his newfound strength.

A hand grabs the back of Jack’s neck, pulling him off his prey. He growls, trying to shake off the grip in any way he can’t but he is unsuccessful. Nails dig into his neck, he feels pain but it’s muted.

“Jesse, go.” Gabe growls from behind Jack’s body. He can hear the anger rolling off his tongue. Jack’s never had that much anger directed at him, it makes him want to curl a tail between his legs and hide. 

Jesse holds his neck and leaves faster than he’s ever seen the man run before. Jack struggles in the grip wanting to chase down his meal. It takes him ten minutes to stop struggling and falls limp in Gabe’s grip. He swears he can still smell Jesse, so close and yet so far.

“Understand why you’re in this shitty room now? Imagine that it wasn't Jesse. Imagine that was Ana or Reinhardt or some random kid that just wanted to see the famous Jack Morrison. You’re not stable enough to go into the outside world yet.” 

Jack feels his feet touch the ground. It gives him enough leverage to twist and try to take over Gabriel. He will get out of this room if it’s the last thing he does. 

“Fuck, SEP makes a hell of a fledgling,” Gabe says but the words mean nothing to Jack.

Except Jack finds himself on his back, staring up at Gabe’s torso. Jack’s nose flares to smell the air. Gabe is angry. There’s a hint of arousal and a smidgeon of fear that coats the inside of his nose and throat. Jack’s arms are pinned above his head, a hand grasps his throat in a way to keep him down and not actively choke him. 

“You gonna stop fighting me now? You can’t win this. I’m fucking old as shit and I won’t take this behavior.” 

Jack swallows. He wriggles trying to free himself but it’s all for naught. He’s stuck, pinned with all of Gabe’s enhanced strength to keep him down. Normally, he’d find this arousing but instead, he feels caged like an animal. 

Maybe he is one? He would have never done that to Jesse.

“Let me go.” Jack rasps. 

“Not until you get it through your thick as fuck skull about what happened. A vampire ripped Bart’s throat out but only got enough of a mouth on you to flush your system with venom. I tried to pull it out but it was too late, I didn’t realize what had happened until I couldn’t stop it. I had to help it along so it didn’t kill you.” 

Gabriel’s story is consistent and would never admit to being unable to do something when it came to him. Jack still doesn’t believe him even though he knows deep down that Gabriel is right.. Jack knows Gabe can see his disbelief as he lowers himself down close enough that Jack can smell the cologne he bought Gabe three years ago. 

He loved that cologne and made sure Gabriel never ran out of it. Now, he wants nothing more than to have it away from his face. It smells too strong and makes his nose burn. He struggles to get away but he can’t. It’s a lost cause. Jack sags in the grip, finally giving Gabe his submission. 

Jack can feel the relief rather than see it. 

“Realized that you haven’t had to piss since you got here? You don’t need to anymore. I’ve also been cutting off your air slowly and you haven't needed to take a breath. Jack, I don’t know how to make this any more obvious beyond a mirror and I really don’t want to make you see yourself before you’ve had time to settle into your body.” 

Jack knows, deep down, that Gabe is right. He doesn’t want Gabe to be right. He wants to go home and eat the pie he made a few days ago. He wants to see the sun. He wants to go outside and feel the breeze. He wants to be anywhere but here. 

“I know.” Jack rasps. 

Jack can’t deny what Gabriel says. He knows he bit Jesse because he’s hungry. He knows he’s not biting Gabe because he knows it’s hard to go against a sire. Gabe told him everything over and over again every time Jack asked it while he weighed the pros and cons of being turned. None of this information is new and yet it feels like a slap in the face.

“I’m sorry. I should have helped. I should have been there but… Fuck, I don’t know. I wanted this so many other ways and…” Gabe slowly moves his arms to free Jack’s hands. His palms are flat beside Jack’s head but his lower half still pins his hips down to stop him. Gabriel trusts him but not enough to let him go fully.

Jack only realized he was waiting for the door to shut. They’re locked in here, together. This trashed room that feels like a prison. The room where the four walls steadily close around him until Jack feels as mad as a hatter.

“You said. You said I was dying, that I died. You can’t… stop that. You’re Gabriel Reyes, not Clark Kent. But… I just.” Jack swallows, eyes canting to look at Gabe’s. Honey brown, almost hazel. Gabe fed before he got here, “When does it stop? I can’t stay here. Can we lockdown at home? Please.” 

For what it’s worth, Gabriel did look like he considered it. 

“No, you’re still too unstable if you think you can eat another vampire and not get sick. Well, I guess you did it because, normally, you’d be puking so that’s interesting.” 

Great, Jack gets the ability to eat his friends without consequences, whoop-de-fucking-do. 

“Hey, look at me. Don’t go down that road. It gets easier, I promise. And you’re not doing this alone. You’ve got all of us, Ana’s taking over some of your stuff while you’re MIA. No one knows this happened, yet. No one ever has to know if you don’t want to. You can retain your looks if you’re fed consistently and we can get you some hair dye if you want to have that salt and pepper take over a little more of your hair,” Gabe moves over the drop to the ground, looking at Jack on his side, “You have options, baby, I promise.”

Jack stares up at the ceiling, mindlessly counting the pebbles that scatter across the top of the room. Popcorn, he corrects himself. It’s fake drywall, Jack knows it’s reinforced steel.

“I don’t want to eat anyone.” Jack, finally, admits after the silence became too much. Gabe is taking his cues from Jack, he knows that. It’s hard to wrap around the fact he’s dead and has to eat people to live as an undead person.

Not a monster, never a monster. He wouldn’t dare call Gabe that and then call himself that.

“And you won’t. We’ve got the best blood supplies and what we don’t need we donate to hospitals or other places that may need the blood. It’s overwhelming right now, I know I’ve been there, but I’m here. You can ask me any question and I’ll answer it as truthfully as possible.” Gabe’s hand reaches out to pull Jack flush against his chest. Jack instinctively lifts his head to let Gabe’s arm become a pillow. He’d laugh but he doesn’t quite know how to find humor in this situation.

Jack melts into the embrace, however, weak for the ability to just let go. 

“I still don’t want to be here.” 

“I know, it’s only temporary. If you can restrain yourself from eating McCree, I’ll let you out.”

And, well, it goes just like that. 

Every day he’s well-fed, pampered by whatever activity Gabe can muster up to lessen Jack’s cabin fever. At the end of a week, they test Jack’s resolve not to feast on Gabe’s second in command. Jesse, not entirely on board with being a guinea pig, does want to get this over with so he subjects himself to this game of cat and mouse.

It takes a month for Jack not to react to Jesse.

It takes another for Jack not to react and hoard blood boxes they bring him to feed on.

It takes two weeks after that to share his blood with Gabriel without being prompted.

All of these are necessary milestones for Jack to see the outside world once and for all.

“I think you’re ready,” Gabe says, off-hand after crushing Jack at poker. He looks at Jack with a sense of pride that Jack feels is misplaced.

“I hope to God I am.” Jack puts his cards down, anxiety rolling off of him in waves as Gabe offers him a hand to pull himself up. It’s been three months since the incident, it feels like it’s been years to Jack. Is he ready? God, he hopes so. He wants to get out of this God-forsaken room.

The door slides open, Jack can smell the fresh air that isn’t really fresh but it’s better than the recycled air in this room. He wants to run, he wants to hide-- there are so many feelings rushing through him.

“Take it easy, little baby steps. I’ll be there the entire time. I believe in you, you can do it.”

And Jack does.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> I may add more to this at some point but, for now, it's complete. 
> 
> Please kudo/comment and you can find me on twitter at bottomboybye.


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